“NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — El Centro, Calif., held its position of having the highest unemployment rate among the nation’s metropolitan areas, with the jobless rate at 30%, according to government figures released Wednesday.

While the figure fell from a revised 32.2% in September, it climbed from 26.8% a year ago and it is staggering even against the nation’s 10.2% unemployment rate, which is at a 26-year high.

But the jobless picture has always been inferior in southern California’s Imperial Valley.

“Our area typically has a high unemployment rate around 17%, so the hike is modeled after what the rest of the country has experienced,” said Cathy Kennerson, chief executive of the El Centro Chamber of Commerce. In 2006, El Centro’s unemployment rate ranged between 12.2% and 18.4%….”